Grace for Today
SARAH FREYMUTH
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“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)
It’s been a slog of bad weather lately. Bleakness everywhere. Outside, the yellow sky is shrouded in gray clouds. The water pounds down, pooling across pavement and earth.
My own body, mind and soul feel much the same: gray, fragile, drenched.
Coming out of a season where COVID-19 and family health challenges have left me battling fatigue and anxiety, each day seems to melt into the next with no differentiation.
I am weary. I am worn, and I am wondering where my God is in this moment.
It feels like I’m scrambling for answers, screaming for immediate healing that hasn’t come.
Where do I look for breakthrough when I feel I’m about to break?
I lift a prayer into the air, hoping it will land.
Later that afternoon, I get a reply:
Grace for today.
These words come into my heart, unexpected in the middle of my tasks and the distractions of my racing mind. I focus on the here and now.
Grace for today.
I’m reminded of how God’s people, when they were wandering in the wilderness, woke up each morning to gather manna, bread from heaven that God miraculously provided, “a day's portion every day” (Exodus 16:4, ESV).
I look around and see that He has already given a dose of grace: the ribbons of pink and purple now entwining with blue in the fading day’s sky; the ocean driftwood candle alight on my table, flame flickering but steady. The miraculous moment of stillness that brings peace to my weary soul. Here is my manna.
We all can receive this manna of grace that arrives in the morning, midday and evening.
When we cannot think past today, or when we exhaust ourselves in the churning minutiae of the why, when, how and what of wanting to know what lies ahead, we have a throne of grace we are allowed to come before. There a good God full of mercy gives the right amount of grace in our time of need.
We may not understand what is happening in our lives right now, and we may wish like crazy there was a way for us to see down the road. But we can rely on God’s ways and timing, knowing that He gives us our daily bread, and He promises to help us in our time of need.
The “how” is up to Him, but we can stretch out our hands to receive His presence, this manna in our wilderness.
He has made a way in the past. We can hold to His promises even when we are unable to see Him working, when we feel tired and nothing in our situation seems to change. He is at work. He is here, providing, drawing us close.
What is ahead is not revealed, but He does give us what we need, how we need it, in this moment.
Nothing is out of reach for God, and He, in His infinite love and wisdom, holds us close in His arms, keeping us reliant on Him, so we don’t have to be overwhelmed by tomorrow.
Here we rest in His grace for today.
Father, You know how I long for answers and an immediate fix to my situation. Right now, You aren’t revealing what’s down the road, but You are giving me exactly what You intend for me in this moment: Your manna to sustain me, Your grace for today. Let me rest in this mercy and grace, and let that be enough. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
OUR FAVORITE THINGS
When you feel like you don’t have any fight left in you, we want to give you fighting words. Our next free Online Bible Study — Fighting Words: 100 Days of Speaking Truth into the Darkness by Ellie Holcomb — starts Monday, May 31. Overcome feeling lost in your anxious thoughts, and join a community that will remind you of what’s true in the middle of what feels loud in your own head. Click here to sign up for free today!
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FOR DEEPER STUDY
2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (ESV)
How is God’s grace sufficient for you when you are hurting or confused?
Make a list of ways God has been faithful to you in the past, and then write down a promise He gives in the Bible that you can hold to today to get you through your current situation.
We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments.
© 2022 by Sarah Freymuth. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
P.O. Box 3189
Matthews, NC 28106
www.Proverbs31.org
